My Picture of the Year

My last post of 2007 is my own individual award to my favourite photograph of the year, amongst the hundreds I’ve taken over the past twelve months.
The picture I’ve chosen as my own personal favourite was taking at Matlock Town’s Geoquip Stadium and shows what should have been the winning goal for Gateshead in the 1-1 draw with the Gladiators, the photograph looks like the ball is about to hit the net but the keeper managed to get his hand to the ball.
The picture was taking from the back of the covered terrace behind the goal and shows the Causeway Lane side of the ground with the distinctive club shop alongside, nestled within the grounds picturesque setting.
Happy New Year!

My Matchday - 154 Birtley Town Council Sports Complex

Birtley Town 0v3 Marske United
Arngrove Northern League 2nd Division
22nd December 2007
att.90

Birtley is a small area to the south of Gateshead on the county border between Tyne & Wear and County Durham, to be more precise if ‘The Angel of the North’ took a slight glance to her right she would be looking into Birtley.
Birtley Town are newcomers to the Northern League after a successful phase in the Wearside League, after initially joining the league in 1992, the past four seasons has produced two titles and two runners-up spots, the second of those tiles last season gave the green light for promotion after making the necessary ground improvements, including new changing rooms and installing floodlights.
The Birtley name is a past associate of the Northern League, alas for only one season, after being founder members in that historic opening season of 1889-90, they resigned and continued playing in various leagues including the Wearside League and the Northern Alliance until reforming as Birtley Town in 1945.The present set up was formed in 1992 with the club merging with Birtley St. Josephs school in 2002 to develop the playing side from under-7’s through to under-18’s, including a girls team and reserve side, this achievement gave the club the FA Charter Standard Community Award.
The ground itself has the necessary standards required for the step up to Northern League 2nd Division, the ground is set way back from the entrance gate, which doesn’t have a welcome sign or any clue to let you know you’ve arrived at a football ground, a man with a Birtley scarf next to a table with a box of programmes is sufficient evidence that I’m at the right place. The main spectators point is at the far side, across two neighbouring football pitches with the main Eastern railway line facing into the ground, this includes a basic 100 seated stand and a standing shelter separated by the dugouts, with both stands decked in ‘The Hoops’ club colours of green and white. The other three sides are left open, but a patch of land has been marked out on the near side which will be the new clubhouse, thanks to my ‘man in the know’ El Queso Grande the club will be transferring a building from a local senior school, to be reconstructed at the ground.
Birtley’s opponents were my friends from Marske United (my fave club on Teesside) who came away with a well earned 3-0 victory, mainly thanks to some poor first half finishing and some very dodgy goalkeeping from the Birtley number 1. The opening period was sluggish and a bit of a non event, it was as if the players had already started on the Christmas pudding or feeling the affects of a pre-Xmas Friday night out, but Marske finished the half much stronger which they took into the second period. A goal from McPhillipson on the hour started the rout, pouncing on to a loose ball on the edge of the box and shooting home on the half volley, this was followed by two goalkeeping gaffes from corner kicks, firstly for Ben Thompson who’s flicked header went through the goalies hands and limped into the net, followed by a routine catch dropping kindly into the path of defender Michael Waller who gladly accepted his early chrimbo present from the keeper.
Even though it was a bad defeat for Birtley Town, largely due to postponements elsewhere; they stay top of the division, the clubs main priority this season isn’t promotion, but to establish themselves within the Northern League and build towards the future, which looks highly probable as this time Birtley are here for the long haul, unlike the towns original team almost 120 years ago.

LINKS - Marske Utd Match -http://www.marskeunitedfc.co.uk/ReportBirtleyDec07.htm

Ground no.154- Birtley Town Council Sports Complex (13 pictures)

Football Travel Blog - December Blog of the Month

The 100 Football Grounds Club is gratified to receive the inaugural Blog of the Month for December from the Football Travel Blog, webmasters Shane Whaley and Andy Carlisle notified me with the news, saying “We love the content and pics, a good example to all of us”
Many thanks lads, another good ego boost and I’m honored to be the first to win the award, full details here.

All The Best..

A Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all friends, members of the 100 Football Grounds Club, regular readers of the website, football fans and groundhoppers of the world.

Enjoy the festive period and the football that goes with it,

Cheers!

My Matchday - Blue Flames Sports Ground

West Allotment Celtic 0v1 Billingham Town
Arngrove Northern League Division One
1st December 2007
att.79
(Revisiting Ground no.90-1st visit Newcastle Utd 1v0 Berwick Rangers, 10th October 2002)

This is the first of a few revisits that I have planned over the next month or so, the Blue Flames Sports Ground at Whitley Park has been home of West Allotment Celtic since 2001, after the previous six years cohabiting at Whitley Bay’s Hillheads ground.
This ground is based in Benton; my first and only visit so far was to mark the official opening of the headquarters of the Northumberland FA, whose offices are located here along with the adjoining Blue Flames Conference & Leisure Centre.
West Allotment is a small village east of Newcastle, Celtic were formed in 1928 when the community’s original team West Allotment Primitive Methodists (formed 1908) merged with the local junior side, playing at the clubs first ground at Holystone where old stables were used as changing rooms. A successful period playing locally throughout North Tyneside lead to the decision to play at a higher grade, the club joined the Northern Amateur League in 1938, now playing at the Farm Ground, where this time the sites main feature was a cowshed, which was dismantled in nearby Heaton and moved bit by bit by the supporters and rebuild at West Allotment, again used as changing rooms.
The club languished in the NAL and were near to closure, until moving to new quarters at Backworth Welfare in 1968; the club progressed through the 1970’s and finally made the step up to the Northern Alliance in 1983-84 where they became the best side in the league, champions on eight occasions; including a hat-trick of titles between 1998-2000.
The club debuted in the Northern League in 2004-05, winning Division Two and adding the Craven Cup in their first season, the club have quickly established themselves in the Northern League, this season they’ve struggled a bit, but the results have improved in recent weeks and Allotment have started to slowly move away from the bottom three trap door.
The grounds Blue Flames name originates from being the former site of the British Gas Sports Ground, the ground has seen some major changes since my last visit, bringing it up to level 5 standards. There is open grass standing areas on three sides of the ground, with the main spectator’s area all congregated on the near side, this comprises of a main stand which is to the left of the pitch, this is split into two sections to give way to the players tunnel in between, the stand has approximately 100 plate style seats in club colours of white with green trimmings. When entering the ground at the payment cabin there’s a covered stand to your immediate right with the clubhouse to your left, all these amenities are on a hill with the pitch below so your view of the game is excellent, especially on another cold day like today when you can go inside the clubhouse and press your nose up to the window and still see the game while you get a warm.
This was my second match of the afternoon and the main feature; I had earlier dipped my toe into the Northern Alliance to watch Heaton Stannington, which is only a 5 minute (hop) drive away, I had seen 7 goals earlier but I had to settle for only seeing one more, as Billingham Town took maximum points with the only goal coming midway through to second half. A draw maybe would have been a fair result as Allotment had plenty of opportunities, especially in the second period, however it was Town who took their chance with a goal from Stephen Flockett on 69 minutes, following in to head home after keeper Morton did well to save the initial shot. Town could have put the game to bed 10 minutes from time, when the keeper fouled giving away a penalty, but he made amends saving the spot kick from Steven Huggins, Billy Town dropped deep in the last ten minutes to protect their lead and comfortably seen the game through to take the three points back home to Teesside.
Although this isn’t a new ground for my list, I made this revisit a ‘must do’ as I was yet to see the main tenants West Allotment Celtic playing at this venue, this is the clubs fifth home after Holystone, Farm Ground, Backworth Welfare and Hillheads, so a lot of grounds for Allotment and one I’m sure that they can call home for many years to come.

Blue Flames Sports Ground – Matchday Web album(16 pictures)

My Matchday - 152 Mount Pleasant

Marske United 4v0 Prudhoe Town
Arngrove Northern League 2nd Division
17th November 2007
att.130

I was advised to wrap up warm whilst visiting Marske-by-the-Sea on the Cleveland coast, Marske United’s Mount Pleasant ground is close enough to the chill that comes off the North Sea, so I was sensibly dressed in ‘me big coat’ and not as a stereotypical Geordie with only a thin t-shirt on.
Marske United FC were formed in 1956 replacing the disbanded Marske Rovers, after earlier playing in local leagues the club joined the Teesside League in 1976, two league titles in the ‘80’s lead to progression to the Wearside League in 1985. United enjoyed cup success in the North Riding competitions until an historic season in 1995-96 saw a clean sweep of Wearside League Silverware; League Title, League Cup, The Sunderland Shipowners Cup and the Monkwearmouth Cup meant the club were obviously too good for this division so a natural step up to the Northern League was the answer. Major ground improvements to Mount Pleasant including the installing of floodlights meant the clubs ambition was fulfilled for the 1997-98 season, a season which ended with a 3rd place finish and another promotion.
The clubs established themselves in the Northern League First Division, including three top four finishes, but after managerial changes and an overturn of players the club were relegated in 2004, last season saw a 5th place finish, so these Marsked men will be hoping to sneak in to a promotion place this time around.
Mount Pleasant has been ‘The Seasiders’ home since 1960, the club run a supporters fund called ‘Friends of Marske United’ which contributes to ground improvements and maintenance, the ground is tucked inside a housing estate, neighboring the local village Bowling Club; on arrival you find the clubhouse is situated in the main car park. When I arrived there was an anticipated crowd (well half a dozen) already forming a queue at the gate, the admission is probably the cheapest in the league; only £2.50 and the National Non-League Programme of the Year priced at a give away 50p, so great value which made the 50 mile journey worthwhile.
The ground is on a higher level, up a flight of stairs, next to the steps is a board showing off the clubs winning honours, and at the top to your immediate left is the Main Stand which is pleasing on the eye, with club colours of a bright yellow frame and flip seats with a blue interior, on the nearside there is also a covered standing area which has 3 redundant leather seats parked in the middle, the home dugout is sandwiched in between and the changing rooms are behind these two sections, back down a flight of stairs adjoining the clubhouse. The most popular spectator area is to the right of the stairs, which is a raised concrete pathway, in the corner is a small covered standing area and the other three sides of the ground is open standing, the far side has a large yellow banner welcoming you to Mount Pleasant with the standing area again raised above pitch level which makes for good matchday viewing, the away dugout is also lodged here.
Prior to kick-off a presentation was made to Marske legend Liam Smith, who has unfortunately had to hang up his boots due to a serious heart condition, he’ll be sadly missed at Mount Pleasant and I wish him good health and all the best in the future.
The match was the proverbial game of two halves, a scrappy first 45 where both teams struggled to get a foothold on the game, with the only notable chance falling to centre half Micky Waller whose free header went just wide, the second half was a different story, four goals and what crackers they were. The first arrived in the 54th minute, courtesy of my man of the match Jon Stott with an unstoppable left foot shot from the edge of the box (a rarity according to the locals, pleased I was here to see it) this was followed by a diving header from Waller on 62 minutes, getting on the end of a corner kick to score from inches out, a superlative chip from left-back Liam McPhillips on 71 minutes made it three and the 2nd half blitz was complete on 81 when Dane Breckon chased a hopeful through ball on the right, he showed a great turn of pace to outmuscle the full-back before dribbling past a couple of defenders and rounding the keeper ‘Ricky Villa style’ to round off a great second 45 for the Seasiders.
I found Marske United a very friendly club, I was spotted taking a few photos and the supporters were interested to know who I was (which makes a change from who’s the sad sack with the camera) and I was pleased that they knew of the 100FGC (good ego boost) so my visit to Mount Pleasant was a very pleasant experience and a warm welcome made up for the cold conditions where even ‘me big coat’ wasn’t enough to protect me from the elements.

Links - Marske United Match Report - http://www.marskeunitedfc.co.uk/ReportPrudNov07.htm

Ground no.152- Mount Pleasant – Matchday Web album.(16 pictures)

My Matchday-151 Southend Road

Penrith Town 3v0 Hebburn Town
10th November 2007
Arngrove Northern League Division Two
att.78

A successful trip to Southend Road, the home of the most Westerly based club in the Arngrove Northern League, after missing out the last time in seeing ‘The Blues’ in action, this was also the ideal fixture and excuse to make my escape from another game that was happening today.
Penrith were formed in 1894, apart from one unsuccessful season in the North Eastern League in 1907-08, the club enjoying a successful period during their early years winning many honours within the clubs home county of Cumberland. The Blues later gained entry to the Northern League in 1948; their first of two spells in the league, their major achievements during this era were runners-up to Stanley United in 1961/62 and reaching two League Cup finals.
The club joined the newly formed North Western Counties League in 1982 and won promotion to Northern Premier League Division One in 1988, their highest status within the league pyramid, but by the turn of the ‘90’s the club were relegated and after a gap of 15 years the club transferred over to Northern League Division One, the clubs true football home. Their first season back started with a 6th place finish, but the next season saw relegation, the club have alternated between the two divisions but have won their first ever trophy in the Northern League, winning the Craven Cup in 2001 with a thrilling 5-4 extra-time victory over South Shields.
This is maybe the last full season that football will be played at Southend Road, or to give it its brand name The World Group Stadium, the ground has two turnstile entrances, the main access is behind the Main Stand, where there is a small office and also the changing rooms and old club house which are both decorated in bright blue, behind each goal is open standing, with the Penrith Leisure Centre side housing port cabins representing the refreshment bar and clubhouse. The far side there is a covered standing, which has adequate room giving shelter to the middle third of the terrace, the away dugout is on this side along with the second turnstile in the far corner. The pitch has a slight slope running across the pitch, there’s three floodlight pylons on each side which were installed in 1975 and another ground feature is the Tannoy announcer, who sounded like his other occupation is the bingo caller at the local working men’s club, with his Cumbrian accent having a swaggering drawl to it.
The Main Stand is quite charming in appearance, with its blue frame and the club name and crest on its peak, inside it has a basic row of four wooden benches, but it’s high levitation gives good views of the match, below the stand is the home dugout and to either side on the white panel wall is the inscription “Winners make it happen” and “Losers let it happen” judging by the performance from the Blues this afternoon, it’s the former message that the team inspire to as they easily took care of Hebburn Town 3-0, with the club from South Tyneside lucky it wasn’t more.
Penrith bossed the game from start to finish taking the lead on quarter of an hour with a well taking goal from Michael Hodgson, who found himself with plenty of time in the box to chest the ball down and pick his spot, this was followed by a similar goal on 40 minutes with more slack marking from the visitors, this time it was Barry Irving who took advantage to give the Blues a 2-0 lead at half time.
The second half matched the first, with the home side looking to stretch their lead while Hebburn relied on scoring from a breakaway, but rarely threatened, a third goal finally arrived in the 68th minute when a right wing corner was flicked on to Wayne Robertson to nod home, Penrith could have extended their lead, wasting further opportunities but can be satisfied in making it 10 wins from the last 11 games.
Penrith look a very good side, with this win taking them up to 3rd in the table, 5 points behind leaders Birtley but with 4 games in hand; if it was possible to bet on this level of football then I would be piling on them now to win this Division, amongst this fine Penrith side one player shone; midfielder Derek Townsley ran the show and reminded me of a modern day Frans Thjssen, but without the Dutch forehead and the ‘70’s porn star tache.
I travelled across to Penrith by train and had an enjoyable day out in Cumbria; I stopped off at Carlisle on the way, where I spent time at a local tavern and enjoyed a pint and a valuable goal scored on the TV, so what personally could have been a depressing day for me (a defeat for you know who, by you know what) turned out great, I could enjoy my time in Penrith and look forward to returning next season in the clubs new ground, which on today’s evidence will be in Arngrove Northern League Division One.

Ground no.151 Southend Road – Matchday Web Album.(16 pictures)

.

Update May 2008 - Penrith Town went on to win Division Two ahead of second placed South Shields by two points.
They also announced a merger with Northern Alliance Division One club Penrith United and from next season they are dropping the ‘Town’ from their name and reverting back to plain Penrith F.C.

Online Store

The new online store is now up and running, where you can purchase more top quality 100 Football Ground Club products, thanks to our suppliers at Café Press you can know buy polo t-shirts and mugs embossed with the club 100FGC crest, full details including cost and postage available here .

My Matchday - 150 Madejski Stadium

Reading 2v1 Newcastle United
27th October 2007
Premier League
att.24119

The Mad Stad was opened in August 1998, and was the creation of Reading owner and multi millionaire John Madejski, the man may have a bit of a dodgy nappa*, but earned his fortune as the founder of (if your buying a car, Britain’s biggest by far is..) Auto Trader magazine. The club were struggling in Division Two(Division 3 in old money) at the time of the grounds construction, but the building of an ambitious Premier League type stadium was rewarded when the Royals won promotion in 2002 and reached the football summit after winning the Championship(Division 2) in 2006.
The ground was built at a cost of £50m upon the site of a former household dump, surrounding the stadium there’s metallic posts topped with cylinder discs, these act as methane gas vents which control the built up of underground gases, the exterior of the ground is silver coloured with the club crest on a red background in each corner. There’s the Premier Wall where supporters can have their names engraved and behind the East Stand is The Jazz Café, outside the venue is a list of the artists that have appeared there, I recognised all the names listed which included amongst others the Average White Band, The Real Thing and The Stylistics, but I don’t know of a group called Hot Choco Ate.(see web album)
The ground has a capacity of 24250 and has three similar stands of a single tier of blue seats, the West Stand has two tiers divided by 28 executive boxes and a different look with a curved roof and has the 4 star Millennium Madejski Hotel behind. I was seated with the rest of the away fans in the South Stand, sitting in front of the big screen in the far corner, the view of the pitch was first class and there’s two steps between each row of seats which means ample leg room.
This was my first visit to Reading since January 1990 that was back in the old Elm Park days, the clubs home for the previous 102 years. My vague memory of the 3rd round FA Cup tie being a brace from Mark McGhee and an injury time equaliser from Michael Gilkes to make it 3-3, meaning forking out again for the replay at St. James’ Park (won 4-1) and being hit by a snow blizzard from Scotch Corner on the way home with myself and Jimmy Jimmy getting soaked walking home after the coach dropped us off, and to make matters worse we just missing last orders.
It was an early start, departing at 6.30am for the long drive south for myself, Ian and his son Lee, for Lee it was a special occasion, being his 100th ground, so today he was giving his pin badge and squad number 79. My first memory of seeing Lee at a football match was when he was only 3 years old, on his Dads shoulders after being chucked out of the Fulwell End at Roker Park and being escorted amongst others around the cinder track to the safety of the Roker away end, as he’s grown up Ian’s took Lee around the country and throughout Europe watching the Toon , now a young man of 20, he has now achieved his first century of grounds, like myself and Ian beforehand all watching United.
With the help of Ian’s comedy sat-nav we arrived in Reading at 11am, prior to departure I found a free place to park that was within walking distance of the ground as the club advised us to park in Reading town centre, then get the shuttle service to the stadium. As we tried to locate the street where we wanted to park it was then that the comedy sat-nav really kicked in, after an hour of touring the streets of Reading, stopping at red lights for an eternity and one or two cases of road rage from Ian at the wheel, we finally found our parking spot at 12.15pm, how the posh lady who navigates our path manages to keeps a degree of decorum and not burst out laughing, I’ll never know.
We arrived at the turnstiles at the away section, where we were frostily greeting by the Reading stewards, there attitude was of a modern day Gestapo; everyone was searched thoroughly, but thankfully without the inconvenience and embarrassment of an anal exam, if you had been drinking you were flatly refused admission with each steward congratulating each other when a fan was rejected, what a bunch of barstewards(misprint) they are. Inside the ground there’s no alcohol for sale, even though it’s advertised on the pricing boards, you obviously can’t smoke, but the other three sections of the stadium conveniently allow you to pop outside for a quick tab. We were unable to have a punt on the game as there were no betting facilities, so three Geordie vices of drinking, smoking and betting that aren’t allowed, hence “don’t drink, don’t smoke, what do you do?” Only goody two shoes Adam Ant would feel at home here.
The game itself was a poor affair, Newcastle’s negative tactics of no width and a cramped midfield meant chances were limited on both sides, a great strike from Dave Kitson on 56 minutes opened the game up and United were fortunate to grab an equaliser in the 76th minute when an Emre free kick wide on the right was fumbled home from Michael Duberry to score his second Newcastle goal(he scored for us in his Leeds United days) this spurred the Magpies on in search of a winner, but that was to come at the other end, when substitute Shane Long took advantage of a hesitant Toon defence to score with his first touch of the ball, so overall a fair result as the performance from the visitors was simply not good enough with Reading worthy of the precious 3 points, another disappointing away day for Newcastle and a 280 mile trek home to look forward to, but full marks to Ian on another quality driving display, as I was home just before 10pm, nicely timed for a few cans of beer and Match of the Day.
The ground is known as the Mad Stad, this is suitably named as the madness of the club stewarding with their small town small mind mentality, bully-boy tactics and their mindset still in 70’s-80’s football culture making this ground visit a gloomy experience. The local populace of Reading were friendly enough and I don’t have a problem with the Reading supporters and R.F.C, they have a lovely little stadium, but it’s one I’m afraid I’ll never return to.

*Translation -Dodgy nappa -someone with a bogus looking haircut/style.

LINKS-

Match Report, line ups, post match.

Ground no.150 Madejski Stadium – Matchday Web album (14pictures)

My Matchday-149 Brinkburn Road

Darlington Railway Athletic 2v3 Birtley Town

Arngrove Northern League 2nd Division

20th October 2007

att.74

Darlington Railway Athletics first formation began in 1919, after playing an initial season in the Darlington & District League the club applied for membership of the Northern League following it’s resumption after the war, unfortunately the club struggled to make an impact and returned to their former league after only six seasons.
The clubs most successful period came during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s when they were league champions as well as a successful cup side, winning the North Riding Cup and the Durham Amateur Cup, the club progressed through the Teesside League and on to the Wearside League, but sadly RA hit financial problems and were forced to fold in 1992.
The resurrection of the present club followed a year later, in the league where it all originally began, the Darlington & District League which they successfully won in 1999-2000, now with some financial clout behind them as well as a decent squad of players, the club then won the Auckland & District League and so another shot at the Wearside League, the obstacle the club fell at last time round.
The club made ground improvements with their ambition to achieve Northern League status, this was achieved when winning the Wearside league in 2004-05 and so after a gap of 80 years, the RA once again bring the world’s second oldest league to Brinkburn Road.
The grounds main entrance is on Brinkburn Road itself, behind the goal where the main seating area can be found, this is a basic criterion stand decked in red flip seats and is named as a memorial to former striker and reserve team coach Paul Adamson, the social club is in the corner next to the cricket pitch which runs parallel to one side of the ground which is open standing. The far goal has a covered terrace with the roof backing on to the building behind, this is built up slightly with wooden supports, and is a regular singing end for the RA fans, there may have only been 5 of them but they were loud enough with my personal fave chant being “There’s only one team in Darlo”, there’s also the Porto cabined changing rooms on the right hand side behind the terrace.
The team dugouts are opposite the cricket pitch end; behind these is an old red wooden/congregated iron stand, which must have been standing for a long time as it gives credit to the clubs recognition of playing in the Northern League between June 1919-May 1926, this is a small shelter with one side having a wooden bench, the stand has a bit of overgrowth inside, so could do with a good dose of weed killer, but it is handy if you fancy a fruitful snack as there’s a blackberry bush growing through the wall, the ground is complete with a trim red and white perimeter fence.
RA played hosts to Northern League newcomers and early season pace setters Birtley Town and were looking for a much improved performance than the game I attended last week at Norton. After a tight opening phase it was the league leaders who took the lead just before the half hour when Allsop got on the end of a right wing cross to nod in at the far post, but the lead was a brief one with Athletic centre forward Neil Tarrant pouncing on a lose ball which ran kindly to him in the box, this seemed to put the sides level at the break but Birtley got a significant lead in stoppage time with Luke Kerry’s well timed run, latching on to a flicked header to calmly place the ball under the keeper.
At the beginning of the second half someone introduced themselves to me, recognised purely by me sporting my 100FGC pin badge; it was Northern League groundhopper El Queso Grande we briefly discussed football grounds and the groundhopping art and both had a good view of Birtley’s striker John Kesterven’s half volley from a corner in the 47th minute to but Birtley 3-1 ahead.
Darlo RA were giving a lifeline in the 78th minute when Tarrant again latched on to a defensive error to toe poke the ball home ahead to reduce the arrears, then in a hurry to get the ball out of the net and restart the game a ‘handbags incident’ occurred when Birtley defender Scott Garrett stopped Tarrant getting to the ball, this wee scurry was settled when Garrett smacked the striker in the gob and was deservingly giving the red card, even though the defender tried in vain to plead his innocence, his set off a frantic finale with RA almost snatching a last minute equaliser, but Birtley held on and were rewarded for their workman like display to stretch their lead at the top to 9 points.
While the trickle of Darlington RA behind the goal reminded everyone how many teams there is in Darlington, it’s worth remembering that there’s actually two, and since the sad unnecessary demise of Feethams, there’s actually still a proper football ground in the town that’s well worth a visit
Ground no.149 Brinkburn Road – Matchday web album(18 pictures)

My Matchday - 148 Station Road

Norton & Stockton Ancients 4v0 Darlington RA
Arngrove Northern League 2nd Division
13th October 2007
att.52

Norton is a village within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, lying due east of the town. The football marriage of the two is the amalgamation of Norton Cricket Club Trust, formed in 1959 playing in the Teesside League who took over the remaining assets of their illustrious neighbours and 3 times FA Amateur Cup winners Stockton Football and Athletic Club.
The Stockton Club had earlier folded in 1975 and later reformed at nearby Thornaby, their remaining wares were transferred to the Cricket Club Trust including the Victoria Ground goalposts which are still used today, in 1980 the club became Norton & Stockton Ancients, the Ancients was the nickname of the old Stockton club and the name was adopted as a tribute to their proud history.
A successful period in the Teesside League meant admission into the Northern League in 1982 and in that first season the club won the Northern League Cup, beating Whitby Town 2-1 in the final, but the Ancients have yet to taste promotion remaining in the ANL Second Division with a highest finish of 5th in 1998-99. The club was awarded the prestigious FA community club award for their development of 20 junior sides from under 7-17s, there’s also a women’s team as well as a successful over 40s side.
The Norton Sports Complex on Station Road is a multi-sports site, on arriving at the ground there’s the cricket pitch with the football ground further on, there’s several floodlit all weather pitches, so the ground is tricky to spot as you can’t just head towards the pylons, but thankfully the ground is well signposted, with ample car park space outside the entrance which is easy to spot with a set of very striking gates.
The paying entrance is in the left corner, behind the goal which has the grounds main facilities which includes refreshments, toilets and storage Portakabins which store those valuable aforementioned goal posts which are put up prior to the game, there’s also a club hospitality cabin which I took advantage of at half time with a cuppa tea, sausage roll and some exceedingly tasty quiche, which everyone commented on being very nice and was the main talking point over the fact that England were 3-0 up over Estonia. The cabins are painted black with trimmings of the main club colour of amber, there’s also a pitched roof with shelter up to the perimeter fence and the players changing rooms are set back next to the main entrance gates.
The main seated area is on the far side which has two separate stands close together, the smaller but taller of the two has a wooden frame with long benches put together with planks and supported by scaffold, while the longer narrow stand is also a wooden enclose and has two rows of similar seats at front and back, they both have a congregated iron roofs and are made more attractive with the supporting posts in the club colours and the front panel has advertisement boards, the rest of the ground is open standing made up of pathways and lawns.
Norton’s opponents today (and hopefully next week’s destination) are Darlington Railway Athletic, who’ve won all four away league games this season and scored 13 goals, while the hosts had an emphatic 8-0 win over Brandon United last Saturday, so I expected a competitive game with plenty of goals, I was happy to see four goals but surprised they were all in the same net as the Ancients comfortably beat RA, with two goals in each half.
The Ancients took the lead in the 14th minute courtesy of an own goal by Athletic defender Walton as his effort to cut out a low cross ended up with the ball nestling in the onion bag, five minutes later the lead was doubled thanks to a fine run by Marcus Laing whose shot took a slight deflecting on it’s way in, any chance of RA getting back into the contest in the 2nd half was laid to rest straight from the kick off as Ray Woodhouse went in bravely to get in front of a left wing cross to make it three. On the hour mark a major substitution was made when the referee pulled up with a hamstring injury, thankfully a reluctant replacement lineo was found meaning the game could continue with the tall skinny young linesman taking centre stage with the whistle, he had a trouble free half hour with no abuse or grief from players and managers, which very seldom happens. The game opened up with plenty of chances from both sides with some great saves from both goalies keeping the score down, until the home side capped a great win with Laing getting his second which was a carbon copy of his first, a run, a shot, and a deflection past the keeper.
The Ancients will be looking to built on some good performances in the last week and climb the table in their quest to finally play in the top division of the Northern League, the club motto is “suit stat viribus” which translates as “each to his own strengths” therefore the club can build on the strength of a committed junior development and a dedication to become one of the best clubs on Teesside.

Ground no.148 Station Road – Matchday web album.(17 pictures)

My Matchday-147 Ainderby Road

Northallerton Town 3v1 Pontefract Collieries

FA Vase 1st Round

6th October 2007

att.104

Northallerton Town lies in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, the most southerly based club in the Northern League, having been members of the league since joining the newly formed 2nd Division in 1982.
The precise date of the clubs formation is unknown, but a trophy donated by local MP Sir George Elliott ‘The Elliott Bowl’ has the name of the club engraved, being the first winners of the trophy in 1895, the club has also been known as Northallerton, Northallerton Alliance as well as Town.
Ainderby Road was renamed The Calvert Stadium in 1997 and is the clubs second home, after being forced to leave their original quarters at the Bluestone Ground in 1974. The local council placed a compulsory purchase order on the ground, with plans to extend the neighbouring County Hall, this work never took place and the old football ground still remains today. The council then reallocated the club to the present site, which including a clubhouse, changing room facilities, car park and two pitches and was officially opened in August 1976.
The club have played in numerous leagues throughout North Yorkshire and won an array of cup competitions, the Town took the big step up to the Northern League from the Harrogate & District League after the club raised almost £150,000 to upgrade Ainderby Road up to Northern League standards.
The most successful season for the Town was in 1993-94, finishing 6th top in Division One and beating Blyth Spartans in the League Cup Final, but a bitter blow was to follow in the summer, the High Court declared the club financially insolvent and the club folded, but thankfully a new committee was set up and the club were able to kick off the 1994-95 season as Northallerton FC 1994 and the club were later able to reinstate Town as their surname again in 1996.
The ground now has a sponsored name, the Regency Stadium, but to avoid any perplexity I’ll remain to call it by the street the ground’s found on, inside the ground the majority of the facilities are on the same side, the turnstile is in the corner of the ground, with a small programme/souvenir shop to your immediate left, the impressive 400 capacity covered terrace leads to the smart looking clubhouse, next is the main stand which has a capacity of 150 red seats divided into 6 rows, which is split by the changing rooms/players entrance, one side has 23 seats for use of press and officials only, while the other side is for the rest of the spectators. Behind each goal is a built up 3 stepped terrace with white crash barriers and on the far side is the dugouts with flat hard standing made up of a pathway and stones.
Today is the 1st Round (proper) of the FA Vase, Towns best performance in the competition is the 4th Round in 2002-03 and their opponents today are North East Counties League Division One side Pontefract Collieries, a club I’m familiar with having seen them crash out of the competition last season at Jarrow Roofing
On a glorious Indian summer’s day, both teams played out a dire first half, with limited clear cut chances, the half time announcement of extra time if the teams are level after 90 minutes filled me with dread, the few who chose the option of watching the Rugby World Cup in the clubhouse instead of the action out on the pitch made a wise choice. (Australia 10 England 12 get in!!!)
The Northallerton team must have taking heed of whatever Town manager Andy Toman said at half time, because by the hour mark they were three up and well on their way to the 2nd Round, with a brace from Paul Hinton with a goal in-between from Craig Toman. Pontefract got back into the game with a goal from Kevin Duckworth (any relation to Jack?) on 69 minutes which lead to an entertaining last 20 minutes with Collieries trying their best to grab another to get right back into the tie, whilst the home side threatened on the break, so it was a surprise that no more goals were added to the 3-1 score line.
I was pleased to tick off the longest trip south in the Arngrove Northern League, the trip down the A1 was made more enjoyable by the lovely weather as well as the sociable and friendly staff at Northallerton Town, good luck in the rest of the Vase and hope they can go one or two rounds better than 2002-03.

LINKS -
Northallerton Match Report

Ground no.147 Ainderby Road – Matchday web album. (19 pictures)

The Football Bog Blog

Great Stadia toilets No.9 in a series of.............loads!

The ones at Matlock with the forbidden wheelie bin inside.

The toilets at Matlock’s Causeway Lane ground look quite neat, being a small grey building tucked away in the corner of the ground, facilitating the needs of Ladies and Gents as well as a disabled toilet.

When I had to pay a visit to the bog, for convenience I staggered into the vacant disabled toilet and was astonished to find a big wheelie bin lodged next to the pot, not only was it a bit daft to have this monstrosity inside the building, but on the lid of the bin I was informed via a slap of white paint DO NOT USE, TAKE YOUR RUBBISH HOME, so a bin in a bog that your not allowed to use….why? …..answers via email at the usual address.

Ground Image Of The Month

This month’s image is quite a disturbing one featuring a dead floodlight at Sealand Road, the home of Chester for 84 years.
The Stadium, Sealand Road was the clubs third home after moving from Whipcord Lane in 1906 after originally playing at Faulkner Street when the club was founded in 1885.
The floodlights were installed in 1960 and the picture shows the ground in process of being demolished in 1992, after the clubs owners controversially moved out two years earlier, when the ground was refused a safety certificate for its away standing areas, which meant a reduction in capacity and a loss of revenue.
Chester City spent two years ground sharing with Cheshire neighbours Macc at Moss Rose until moving in to the new Deva Stadium in 1992, but to true City fans Sealand Road will always be ‘The Seals’ spiritual home.

My Matchday - 146 Causeway Lane

Matlock Town 1v1 Gateshead

Unibond Premier Division

22nd September 2007

att.332

Causeway Lane or giving its new handle The Geoquip Stadium is a ground I’ve been looking forward to visiting, so I was pleased to finally get the opportunity the make the trip to the Gladiators home, in the company of the Heed Army for this top of the table clash (yes, top not bottom)
Football was first played in the Derbyshire town of Matlock as long ago as the late 1870’s, before making their competitive bow in 1892 as founder members of the Midland Alliance League. After the Second World War the club reformed as Matlock Town and later rejoined the newly reformed Midland League after twice finishing champions of the Central Alliance at the turn of the 1960’s, after an initial period post war in the Chesterfield & District League.
The Gladiators were champions in their first season back in the Midland League and ended the decade with a second title, for the 1969-70 season the club joined the Northern Premier League where they have played ever since, with their highest finish achieved in 1983-84 as runners-up to Barrow
The club have won many honours in cup competitions, especially in the Derbyshire Senior Cup winning seven out of eleven finals as well as success’s in the NPL cups, but their biggest triumph was lifting the FA Trophy in 1975, as the underdogs hammering favourites Scarborough 4-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.
The club were relegated to Division One in 1996, but returned in 2004 and have made steady progress since, last season saw them lose out to Witton Albion in the play-offs after a credible 5th place finish, and this season they’ve started well, again sitting 5th with a 100% record at home, but today they were up against a team with a 100% record not only at home, but also on the road, so something had to give as the Heed Army marched into Causeway Lane to do battle with the Gladiators.
The ground itself is one of the most picturesque I’ve visited, situated at the southern eastern edge of the Peak District, right in the heart of the town centre which is great for pre-match drinking, with the turnstiles and entrance on the main street. When entering the turnstiles, to your right is the club shop and the Causeway Lane end of the ground, which looks like two separate stands bonded together, with one half having blue flip seats and the other half bench style seats with adequate standing room in front of the stand, on close inspection there’s a sign on the back wall with ‘The Cyril Harrison Stand’ scripted, as well as the name of the grounds hosts in large blue letters adoring the length of the stand.
The opposite side is the Main Stand which also has rows of blue seating and houses the players changing rooms, so the players enter the field down the middle steps from the top of the stand, while the away players enter via a separate entrance, next to a new building in the process of being constructed(new changing rooms maybe)the newly improved club house is next to the stand, with very hospitable bar staff, there was even a sign on the wall behind the bar to make us most welcome. (See web album pic ‘A warm welcome’)
The local cricket club resides next door behind the far goal and there’s just been a new fence rebuilt, this part of the ground was cordoned off but only has a standing lawn area, while the opposite goal has a covered terrace which runs parrallel from the goal post to the bog in the corner, with the terrace running up to an angle, getting steeper as you approach the toilets, this end gives a fabulous view of Riber Castle in the distance high up on the hill.
With both teams going well this season and the threat of (one way or the other) a winning sequence being broken, then the draw was the obvious result on the pools coupon, so that’s how it finished, a 1-1 draw which on reflection was a fair outcome. Matlock took the lead straight from the kick off when a lack of concentration in the Gateshead defence allowed Simon Barraclough to head home from a Webster cross giving the Gladiators a dream start. Gateshead had to reshuffle the pack making two substitutions after injuries to key players Gate and Bowey but finished the first half well and grabbed an equaliser when fine play by Hughes and Harwood set up Ian Robson to make it all square at the break.
The second half saw a goal line clearance and the help of the woodwork deny The Tynesiders the lead; however Matlock always looked dangerous on the break and it was from one of those raids forward that lead to a penalty on 70 minutes after a challenge from make shift centre-half Paul Thompson on Barraclough, the same man was then denied the winner from the spot after Heed keeper Peter Keen saved well, diving to his right and assuring Gateshead remain unbeaten this season.

It was a very pleasant day out in Matlock with the local residence and club officials very friendly, I was knackered by the end of the day, after being on the go from 4.20am, going into work and racing around to make the coach pick up at 10.00am, any chance of a bit shut eye on the way home was impossible with the volume turned up to 11 on the coach CD player (Cheers TC!)
Gateshead had a great travelling support, as well as the usual roll call of the Heed Army regulars, there’s also a lot of new fans, as well as the return of Private Goody or should that be ‘Low Fell Elvis’ who managed to turn a few heads as we walked through Matlock town centre on the way to the pub, there were a few ‘Suspicious Minds’ from the locals and a few seemed ‘All Shook Up’ by his appearance, but really Goody is just a Teddy Bear (or should that be Hound Dog)
So overall an enjoyable day out, with Gateshead coming away with a well earned point, plus a visit to a smashing little ground.
(‘Low Fell Elvis’ picture courtesy of General Gaddess)

LINKS -
Matlock report
Gateshead match report
Heed Army Blog report

Football Bog Blog no.9
Previous 100FGC Members ticks -
Simple Pieman (April 2006)
Tims 92 (January 2007)

Ground no.146 – Causeway Lane Matchday web album(19 pictures)

When I got through the turnstiles at Causeway Lane I was greeted by Matlock supporter and ground MC John Lawton, the newest member of the 100 Football Grounds Club, squad no.69 (ooh matron!)
We swapped souvenirs as I awarded him with his 100FGC pin badge while he gave me a copy of his fabulous book ‘Gladiators On Tour and other footballing stories’ which tells of one mans passion for football as well as his pursuit of football mugs. John attended 105 games in 2006/07 as well as visiting 50 new grounds; the book chronicles his season and is put together with pictures from his travels and is all done with some great crack.
The book is priced at £6.00 with all proceeds from the book going to MTFC Supporters Club as well as 20% of the profits going to John’s favourite charity WaterAid.
Full details can be found here

The Football Bog Blog

Great Stadia toilets, No.8 in a series of........
The ones at Hyde United with the interior "schimmel growth"

This latest football bog picture was taking by Dutch 100FGC member Joris van de Wier (Squad no.50) on one of his regular groundhopping trips to England, one of the matches he attended took place at Ewen Fields, the home of Hyde United.

This bog is another example of the brick*hit house brand, Joris described it as quite smelly with something growing in the urinal;what the Dutch call 'schimmel', so anyone visiting Ewen Fields can not only see 'The Tigers' in action but also check the progress of whatevers growing inside this football bog.

My Matchday - 145 Grange Lane

North Ferriby United 1v4 Gateshead
Unibond Premier League
11th September 2007
att.156

I’ve been wanted to see Gateshead a lot more away from home this season, as there’s plenty of grounds I’m yet to discover in the other three corners of the Unibond Premier League and naturally I want to give the team my support amongst the fellow soldiers of the Heed Army. The way this seasons fixtures have worked are when Newcastle are at home Gateshead are away, and vice-versa, which is great in one respect, as it means there’s no fixture clashes on Tyneside, which puts a few extra punters through the turnstiles at the International Stadium on a Saturday afternoon, but from a more selfish point of view, this limits my trips to pastures new.
Gateshead have started the season with 5 wins out of 5 and clocked up a tally of 20 goals in the process, the tremendous start is hung-over from the great finish to last season, with the team unbeaten in 17 games stretching back to last March when the Bogieman took over the job after the dismissal of Tony Lee.
A trip to Humberside and a visit to Grange Lane, the home of North Ferriby United, a club which is now playing at the highest level in their history, currently in their third campaign in the Unibond Premier League. Originally formed in 1934 playing in a local league, the club reformed after the Second World War and were admitted to the East Riding Amateur League, until ambition saw them join the Yorkshire League Division Two in 1969, which they successfully won in their second season.
Throughout the following decade the club enjoyed success in winning the East Riding Cup four times as well as the Yorkshire Cup, until the club became one of the founder members of the Northern Counties East League in 1982, which they won in 1985-86.
The biggest day in the clubs history was an appearance at Wembley in the 1996 FA Vase Final, losing out to Whitby Town 3-0 after a great nine game cup run to reach the final, progression was made throughout the ‘90’s and the dawn of the new millennium saw them achieve Unibond League status after becoming NCE Premier Champions and making sufficient ground improvements, the club celebrated their 70th anniversary by winning the Unibond League First Division Championship in 2004-05.
North Ferriby is a civil parish hidden 8 miles west of Hull on the north bank of the Humber, according to the 2001 census the parish has a population of 3,819 and the Grange Lane ground can be found at the bottom of the village off Church Road. The turnstile entrance is in the corner of the ground, with all the facilities, toilets, refreshments, changing rooms and clubhouse all on the nearside. The main spectator’s area is on the opposite side and is a paddock type covered stand which stretches pitch length; this has a central seated area with red flip seats incorporating a small press box flanked by standing areas to each side. Behind each goal are two open hard standing terraces, the mighty Humber Bridge can be seen at one end of the ground while to the other there’s a plot of allotments where I spotted some smashing pumpkins growing through the gap in the fence. The pitch is in imaculate condition with £15,000 being spent to give it that carpet look, all thanks to Hull City who play their reserve matches at Grange Lane.
The first half of the game was one of frustration, the referee is always an easy target if your side is losing, but this ref was diabolical (and I’m being polite) After Gateshead started brightly forcing some good saves from Ferriby keeper Pecora, the home side took a controversial lead on the half hour after centre-half James Curtis was hacked down on the half way line, the referee waved play on and from the consequential attack the home side scored through Andy Hayward netting the rebound after Keen’s initial save.
The home side went in at the break with that slender lead but the half time whistle was greeted with jeers from the travelling support as well as some harsh words from the players and Gateshead manager Ian Bogie, especially after another dodgy decision when the ref failed to give a penalty when Armstrong was clearly tripped in the box as he shaped to shoot.
It could have been one of those nights, when you feel after all your good effort your going to come away empty handed, but I felt if Gateshead were to get an equaliser then they’d win easily, and that’s just what happened, the first meaningful attack of the 2nd half saw Southern burst through the Ferriby defence before being haled down on the edge of the box, while the Heed Army were still trying to get over the shock of winning a free-kick, “Di Di Di Di Di Davy Southern” stepped up to slam in the equaliser. This opened the floodgates and within 5 minutes ‘The Tynesiders’ took the lead when Southern cleverly beat the offside trap before laying the ball on a plate for Hughes to slide home, a bullet header from Steve Salvin made it three and another marvellous performance was rounded off when substitute Ian Robson scored his first goal from the club, showing a great turn of pace before firing in from the edge of the box. So the Heed Army go marching on, now six out of six another four goals to maintain the four goals a game average, the long suffering but humerous Gateshead fans have jokingly sang the same song for years “Grange Hill, it’s just like watching Grange Hill” but if the team keeps on playing the way they are at the moment, it won’t be Grange Hill we’re watching but more like Brazil.

Ground No.145 – Grange Lane Matchday web album
(15 pictures)

Links-
North Ferriby United report
Gateshead Match report
Heed Army blog

Seadogs on Tour
An accident on the A1 meant our trip to Humberside took longer than expected, Myself, Big Ian and Captain Morgan Stevie finally arrived at the ground at 7.25, the same time as the team coach with the players already kitted out ready for action, but there was also a mini bus of Scarborough supporters also kitted out in matching black t-shirts.
I spoke to several of the ‘Seadogs on Tour’ gang and asked what they were about, they told me that they’re still going to go to the matches together but groundhop to different games every week, they tried going to watch Scarborough Athletic but couldn’t get into it, especially having to travel down to Bridlington, so there love of football will continue but sadly without a team of their own to support.
They have a list of fixture mapped out of games they’ll be attending and I’m looking forward to meeting up with the Seadogs again when they visit Matlock Town for the game against Gateshead.
Details can be found here on their website;
http://www.seadogsfans.co.uk/X6SeadogsOnTour.htm

My Matchday-144 South Kesteven Sports Stadium

Grantham Town 2v0 Nantwich Town
8th September 2007
Unibond League Division One (South)
att.262

I’ve become a regular visitor to the Lincolnshire market town of Grantham over the last ten years or so, not only is it the birthplace of former prime sinister Margaret Thatcher (hiss, boo!!!) but also the place of birth of ‘the breadknifes’ Uncle Malcolm (hurray!!!) who many moons ago fell in love and married Geordie lass Ann, living happily ever after in the Lincolnshire countryside. They are frequently visited by their favourite niece and nephew-in-law in search of solace and in the case of the said nephew-type, visiting football grounds within the local vicinity.
The main occasion for our stopover this weekend was a family get together in celebration of Ann’s recent 50th birthday, but with the merriment not due to get under way until 6pm; this gave me a free afternoon to finally check out the local football team; Grantham Town aka The Gingerbreads. [Happy Birthday Ann! x.]
Originally founded in 1874 ‘The Gingerbreads’ began playing at a competitive level from 1925 spanning almost 50 years in the Midland League, the club won their third league title in 1971-72 and decided to try their luck in the Southern League where they enjoyed instant success, winning their third championship title on the spin in the Southern League Division 1 North, winning promotion to the Premier League.
The following season the club just missed out on winning a fourth consecutive title, finishing runners-up to Dartford, their highest finish within the pyramid, that same season was also their best performance in the FA Cup, reaching the majestic third round stage after knocking out Rochdale in the 2nd round, their reward was a home tie against Jack Charlton’s Middlesbrough, giraffe necks team avoid any giant killing however, winning 2-0 in front of a record crowd of 6573 at London Road.
Grantham’s geographical location makes them one of ‘the inbetweenees’ of Non-League football, an apparent target in re-shuffling between northern and southern based leagues, when the club suffered relegation in 1978 they won the league the following season, but due to the formation of the Alliance (Football Conference) the club were placed in the Northern Premier League.
By the mid-1980’s the club were back playing in the Southern League, during this era there were many changes afoot, after the club almost went out of business a new board took over, the club added Town to their name in 1987, and by the end of the decade a new football ground, after initial interest shown in redeveloping London Road, a stadium was built to share with the local athletics club on the Meres playing field, in 1989-90 Grantham Town took residence at the brand new South Kesterven Sports Stadium.
Known locally as “the Mairrres” the stadium has a capacity of 7500, the main East Stand is an attractive looking two tier structure in cream and blue, there’s seats at pitch level as well as a splendid view from the top tier, even though the running track usually takes you further away from the pitch, you still feel your close to the action, the club bar is built into the back of the stand and access can be gained in between the two tiers of blue seats. There are two banks of terracing either side of the stand, with one terrace oddly having eight pairs of seats through the middle, behind each goal are open grass banks which are too far away from the pitch and the west side of the ground there’s a covered terrace which houses the hardcore Gingerbread support.
Grantham last season were truly dreadful, after being re-juggled again into the Northern Premier League, they finished tailed off at the bottom, and relegation has found them part of the restructured Unibond League where they’ve been placed “back darn sarf “in the newly formed Unibond League Division One South, so this meant a first meeting at the Maires between themselves and their opponents from Cheshire Nantwich Town.
The game was an even contest with Grantham just shading it, they took a half time lead with a moochers goal from centre forward Sam Wilkinson and even though Nantwich tried there best to find an equaliser in the second half, the Gingerbreads bully boy tactics saw them take the three points, this was rubber stamped with an injury time goal from Sam Mullarkey to give the home side a 2-0 victory.
Grantham match report

I found it hard to concentrate on the game as I was receiving constant text messages from Captain Morgan Stevie (he likes his rum) on the latest news from the International Stadium;Gateshead v Hednesford, my phone was constantly going off and a final score of a 6-2 win to the Heed had me in the mood to do some serious drinking at the evening barbeque, along with a good performance from England, visiting a new ground with a win for the home side in addition of a great night in the company of the breadknifes family, I staggered into my pit at 1.30am content and intoxicated.

Previous 100FGC members ground tick –
Simple Pieman (April 2004)

Ground no.144 – South Kesteven Sports Stadium Web album(18 pictures)

Ground Image Of The Month

This month’s ground image was taking by Nathan Davies, and was featured on his fine football blog ‘Tartan Red On Tour’ when he visited Fir Park the home of Motherwell FC for their SPL clash with Inverness CT in April 2006, the ground is also the temporary home of SPL newcomers Gretna for this season.
The picture shows the East Stand with the words “Keep Cigarettes Away From The Match” embossed in capital letters across the top of the stand, it just one of many anti-smoking signs on view within the stadium, you can read Tartan Red’s impression of the ground along with more pictures here.

My None Matchday - not 144 Southend Road

27th August 2007

Penrith Town’s Southend Road ground is the furthest journey in the Northern League, not only for me but for most of the clubs playing within the league; they are the only club in Cumbria, situated in the Eden Valley, touching distance from the bootiful, bootiful Lake District.
I took advantage of Bank Holiday Monday to make a major tick off my Northern League list, the Smid family set off and headed west along the A69, then south down the M6 to combine the groundhop with a trip to one of the nearby lakes. After arriving at 12.50, we parked up at the ground and had a look around the town centre, went for a drink and headed back to the ground at 2.35, on arriving we were unable to gain entry, then a group of tracksuited Thornaby players appeared boarding a mini-bus, they informed ourselves as well as another two groundhoppers (who arrived just after us) that the game had kicked off at 12.00. …..aarrrghhhhh!
I checked the fixtures on the Northern League website on Friday and I noticed a couple of games with an early kick off, but Penrith wasn’t one of them, I meant to check before I set off (but didn’t) so there goes my “major tick”, with any luck I’ll have another attempt to get to Southend Road sometime this season, but I’ll ring the club first to confirm the kick off time.
It wasn’t a wasted journey after all, we took a detour to Keswick and had an enjoyable day out, I’ve never been there before, but it truly is a stunning part of the country, me and the breadknife wouldn’t mind going back for a weekend away, maybe it could coincide with Penrith Town being at home, now that’s a canny good idea!

For the record the score was; Penrith Town 1v0 Thornaby.

My Matchday - 143 Welfare Park

Horden Colliery Welfare 1v1 Team Northumbria
Arngrove Northern League Division 2
August 25th 2007
att.21

Horden is a mining village in County Durham, the colliery was constructed in 1900 and was one of the biggest in the country, at its peak the mine employed over 4000 men and producing 1.5 million tons of coal a year, hundreds of workers in the colliery helped fund the local football club by deducting money each week from their wages.
Formed in 1908 as Horden Athletic and playing in the Wearside League, the club became Horden CW in 1928 and after four league titles moved on to the North-Eastern League in 1935, apart from a brief spell in the Midland League in the late 1950’s the club stayed in the NE League until the league folded in 1964, having been champions on two occasions in 1937-38 and 1963-64.
The club then returned to the Wearside League where they added an additional six titles as well as further success in cup competitions including the treble in 1973 (League, Shipowners and Monkwearmouth Cups) until they joined the Northern League in 1975, since then they’ve twice finished runners-up in 1980 and ’83 and won another pot with a League Cup final win against Blyth Spartans in 1984.
In 1985 the Colliers were relegated, on top of this the club lost its main sponsor and Horden colliery closed, the club managed to survive and keep its Northern League status, they again won promotion in 2002-03, but sadly were relegated last season narrowly losing out by one point to Bedlington Terriers.
Thanks to a Football Stadium Improvements grant, Welfare Park looks in great nick after key improvements and upgrading, in particular the HCWFC Grandstand, which dominates the ground with its red external appearance and white roof, the raised seating area is divided into three sections of red seats, in the middle is the Stan Anderson Enclosure, to the left the Bobby ”Punchy” Naisbett Enclosure and to the right the Sylvia & Bob Wood Enclosure, underneath is the refreshment bar and toilets, with the new changing rooms to the side.
The clubhouse is in the corner of the ground with a white covered seating area outside, which on closer inspection I realised is a smoker’s area for clubhouse patrons, behind the bottom goal is the turnstile with a hard standing area with the Workingmens club and the Horden Social Welfare Centre looking into the ground (guests at the wedding reception were glued to the window) the other two sides of the ground have good views with steps leading up to a grass verge.
The game finished in a creditable draw which on reflection was a fair result, Horden CW won the ‘Performance of the Week Award’ after knocking Sunderland Nissan out of the FA Cup last week, while Team Northumbria crashed, banged and were truly walloped out of the cup with a 0-11(eleven) home defeat to Consett, so I suppose they’ve been working on their defending in training this week. The clean sheet looked on the cards until a goal from Ross Galley just before half time gave the Colliers the advantage at the interval, this looked the decisive moment until a late equaliser from centre half Mark Tye with a powerful header from a corner gave TN a share of the spoils.
The local cricket pitch as well as the park is behind the Grandstand, today there was a cricket match being played at the same time as the football, when I sat in the stand at the beginning of the second half there was an almighty thud, as if a bomb had landed in Horden, I then realised that a batsman ‘hit a six’ against the back of the stand, there was also many cries of “Howzat” with the only shouting coming from the football ground being from the players moaning at the officials, but also the canny little lady who sold the programmes with her constant screams of “whorre…den!” which if you didn’t know where you were, sounds more like some sort of bordello than the local football team.
Links-
Match Report - http://www.hordencw.com/1stteam/fixtures_table.pl?action=report&id=241448


Ground no.143 Welfare Park – Matchday Web album (17 pictures)

My Matchday - 142 Hebburn Sports & Social Ground

Hebburn Town 1v3 Tow Law Town
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
18th August 2007
att.102

Hebburn is a small town in the district of South Tyneside, the towns’ biggest employer Reyrolles formed a works team in 1912, playing in the Jarrow & District League up until the First World War, between the two wars the club played in various leagues on Tyneside, winning their only championship in the Tyneside League in 1938-39, as well as success in winning many local cup competitions.
In 1960 the club began playing in the Wearside League, where they had 28 unbroken seasons including winning the title in 1966-67, they didn’t add Hebburn to their name until 1986 when the club raised their ambitions, making ground improvements and hopes of stepping up into the Northern League, this was achieved in 1989-90, as they became the first club from South Tyneside to gain entry (South Shields and Jarrow Roofing were to follow) like the factory the famous Reyrolle name by then was no more, just basic Hebburn until the Town bit was added in 2000.
The club won promotion in their third season, their first of two spells in the First Division resulted with a best finish of 11th, ‘The Hornets’ last relegation was in 2001 and have remained in the Second Division since, but today it wasn’t about league action, only 90 days have gone by since the FA Cup Final, so it’s time to get this seasons competition under way with the Extra Preliminary Round.
Hebburn Sports & Social Ground is exactly that, it’s a Sports Ground with a Social Club within the complex, as well as being the home of Hebburn Town FC there’s a cricket field, all weather 5-a side pitches, tennis court and even a bowling green which are all situated bordering the football pitch, the ground has one covered main stand, which has approx 100 blue flip seats and behind each goal are small narrow standing areas.
The main part of the social club (the drinking bit) is up a flight of stairs and has a great window view, looking down on to the cricket pitch and across towards the football ground, the exterior is also used as the cricket scoreboard, the changing rooms are further back near the main car park, which favours the cricketers but is a bit of a walk for the footballers. The ground could do with making the grounds bordering walls a bit bigger, the number of times the ball got kicked on to the main road which runs past the ground or towards the neighbouring houses, had the clubs officials and committee men’s piss boiling, it’s funny but with one side of the ground adjoined by a cricket pitch I can’t remember seeing the ball booted in that direction.
Wembley may well be at least a million miles away for these two teams, but the game was just as competitive as any game you’ll see in the 3rd round in January, played on a lush Wembleyesque pitch, Tow Law came away with a place in the next round with a fabulous second half display, leading but a single goal at half time thanks to a free-kick by Craig Tate on the edge of the box and a missed penalty from Hebburn’s Garry McCartney, the Lawyers overcame the setback of allowing Hebburn’s Michael Younger to equalise in the 52nd minute to totally dominate the last half hour. The victory was achieved with a brilliant individual effort from Craig Tate, who made space for himself on the edge of the box to fire past the keeper before setting up Peter Watling to give Tow Law a 3-1 win, but it should have been at least six if it wasn’t for their Arsenal type ‘fancy-Dan-like’ finishing.
With the Toon v Villa game kicking off at 5.15, I was able to attend this game and get into Newcastle just in time for kick-off, seeing the black and whites stripes of Tow Law winning may as acted as an omen for what lay ahead in my first Premier League attendance of the season, but I’m afraid it wasn’t to be, as that game lacked a Man of the Match display and a moment of magic to win the game, maybe someone in the Craig Tate mould could have done the trick.

Ground No.142 Hebburn Sports & Social Ground – Matchday Web album(15 pictures)